:OO
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III.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
THE SECRET ROSE.
THE CELTIC TWILIGHT.
POEMS.
THE WIND AMONG THE REEDS
THE SHADOWY WATERS.
IDEAS OF GOOD AND EVIL.
PLAYS FOR AN IRISH THEATRE
VOLUME III.
THE KING'S THRESHOLD: AND
ON BAILE'S STRAND: BEING
VOLUME THREE OF PLAYS
FOR AN IRISH THEATRE: BY
W. B: YEATS
r
LONDON: A. H. BULLEN, 47, GREAT
RUSSELL STREET, W.C. 1904
625239
/3./3.S5
CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
NOTE
BOTH these plays have been written for
Mr. Fay's "Irish National Theatre." "The
King's Threshold" was played in October,
1903, and "On Baile's Strand" will be
played in February or March, 1904. Both
are founded on Old Irish Prose Romances,
but I have borrowed some ideas for the
arrangement of my subject in " The King's
Threshold" from " Sancan the Bard," a
play published by Mr. Edwin Ellis some
ten years ago.
W. B. Y.
vn
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE KING'S THRESHOLD l
ON BAILE'S STRAND 67
THE KING'S THRESHOLD
in.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
KING GUAIRE.
THE CHAMBERLAIN OF KING GUAIRE. t-
A Soldier.
A Monk.
THE MAYOR OF KINVARA. »
A Cripple.
Another Cripple.
AILEEN,
SEN, \
^ ]
t Ladies of the Court.
1LSSA,
PRINCESS BUAN.
PRINCESS FINNHUA, her Sister.
FEDELM, Seanchan's Sweetheart.
CIAN,
1
J-
, )
_
Servants of Seanchan.
BRIAN,
SENIAS, )
f Pupils of Seanchan.
ARIAS, }
SEANCHAN (pronounced Shanahan), Chief Poet of Ire-
land.
Pupils, Courtiers.
A PROLOGUE.1
An Old Man with a red dressing-gown, red
slippers and red nightcap, holding a
brass candlestick with a guttering candle
in it, comes on from side of stage and
goes in front of the dull green curtain.
Old Man. I've got to speak the prologue.
[He shuffles on a few steps .] My nephew,
who is one of the play actors, came to me,
and I in my bed, and my prayers said, and
the candle put out, and he told me there
were so many characters in this new play,
that all the company were in it, whether
they had been long or short at the business,
1 Written for the first production of "The King's
Threshold " in Dublin, but not used, as, owing to the
smallness of the company, nobody could be spared to
speak it.
5
A PROLOGUE
and that there wasn't one left to speak the
prologue. Wait a bit, there's a draught
here. [He pulls the curtain closer together^
That's better. And that's why I'm here,
and maybe I'm a fool for my pains.
And my nephew said, there are a good
many plays to be played for you, some to-
night and some on other nights through
the winter, and the most of them are simple
enough, and tell out their story to the end.
But as to the big play you are to see to-
night, my nephew taught me to say what
the poet had taught him to say about it.
[Puts down candlestick and puts right finger
on left thumbJ] First, he who told the story
of Seanchan on King Guaire's threshold
long ago in the old books told it wrongly, for
he was a friend of the king, or maybe afraid
of the king, and so he put the king in the
right. But he that tells the story now,
being a poet, has put the poet in the right.
And then [touches other Jinger\ I am to
say : Some think it would be a finer tale if
6
A PROLOGUE
Seanchan had died at the end of it, and
the king had the guilt at his door, for that
might have served the poet's cause better
in the end. But that is not true, for if he
that is in the story but a shadow and an
image of poetry had not risen up from the
death that threatened him, the ending would
not have been true and joyful enough to
be put into the voices of players and pro-
claimed in the mouths of trumpets, and
poetry would have been badly served.
[He fakes up the candlestick again.
And as to what happened Seanchan after,
my nephew told me he didn't know, and
the poet didn't know, and it 's likely there 's
nobody that knows. But my nephew thinks
he never sat down at the king's table again,
after the way he had been treated, but that
he went to some quiet green place in the
hills with Fedelm, his sweetheart, where
the poor people made much of him because
he was wise, and where he made songs and
poems, and it's likely enough he made some
7
A PROLOGUE
of the old songs and the old poems the
poor people on the hillsides are saying and
singing to-day. [A trumpet-blast.
Well, it 's time for me to be going. That
trumpet means that the curtain is going to
rise, and after a while the stage there will
be filled up with great ladies and great
gentlemen, and poets, and a king with a
crown on him, and all of them as high up
in themselves with the pride of their youth
and their strength and their fine clothes as
if there was no such thing in the world as
cold in the shoulders, and speckled shins,
and the pains in the bones and the stiffness
in the joints that make an old man that has
the whole load of the world on him ready
for his bed.
[He begins to shuffle away, and then
stops.
And it would be better for me, that
nephew of mine to be thinking less of his
play-acting, and to have remembered to
boil down the knap-weed with a bit of three-
A PROLOGUE
penny sugar, for me to be wetting my throat
with now and again through the night, and
drinking a sup to ease the pains in my
bones.
\_He goes out at side of stage.
THE KING'S THRESHOLD.
SCENE: Steps before the Palace of KING
GUAIRE at Gort. A table in front of
steps to right with food on it. SEANCHAN
lying on steps to left. Pupils before steps.
King on top of steps at centre.
King. I welcome you that have the
mastery
Of the two kinds of music ; the one kind
Being like a woman, the other like a man ;
Both you that understand stringed instru-
ments,
And how to mingle words and notes to-
gether
So artfully, that all the art is but speech
Delighted with its own music ; and you
that carry
The long twisted horn and understand
ii
THE KING S THRESHOLD
The heady notes that being without words
Can hurry beyond time and fate and change ;
For the high angels that drive the horse
of time,
The golden one by day, by night the silver,
Are not more welcome to one that loves the
world
For some fair woman's sake.
I have called you hither
To save the life of your great master,
Seanchan,
For all day long it has flamed up or flickered
To the fast-cooling hearth.
Senias. When did he sicken ?
Is it a fever that is wasting him ?
King. He did not sicken, but three days
ago
He said he would not eat, and lay down
there
And has not eaten since. Till yesterday
I thought that hunger and weakness had
been enough,
12
THE KING S THRESHOLD
But finding them too trifling and too light
To hold his mouth from biting at the grave
I called you hither, and have called others
yet.
The girl he is to wed at harvest-time,
That should be of all living the most dear,
Is coming from the South, and had I known
Of any other neighbours or good friends
That might persuade him, I had brought
them hither,
Even though I'd to ransack the world for
them.
Senias. What was it put him to this work,
High King?
King, You will call it no great matter.
Three days ago
I yielded to the outcry of my courtiers,
Bishops, soldiers, and makers of the law,
Who long had thought it against their
dignity
For a mere man of words to sit among them
At my own table ; and when the meal was
spread
13
THE KING S THRESHOLD
I ordered Seanchan to good company,
But to a lower table ; and when he pleaded
The poet's right, established when the world
Was first established, I said that I was King
And made and unmade rights at my own
pleasure.
And that it was the men who ruled the
world,
And not the men who sang to it, who should
sit
Where there was the most honour. My
courtiers,
Bishops, soldiers, and makers of the law
Shouted approval, and amid that noise
Seanchan went out, and from that hour to
this,
Although there is good food and drink
beside him,
Has eaten nothing. If a man is wronged,
Or thinks that he is wronged, and will lie
down
Upon another's threshold until he dies,
The common people for all time to come
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Will raise a heavy cry against that threshold,
Even though it is the King's. He lies there
now
Perishing; he is calling against my majesty,
That old custom that has no meaning in it,
And as he perishes, my name in the world
Is perishing also. I cannot give way
Because I am King, because if I give way
My nobles would call me a weakling, and
it may be
The very throne be shaken ; but should you
That are his friends speak to him and
persuade him
To turn his mouth from the ill-savouring
grave
And eat good food, he shall not lack my
favour ;
For I will give plough-land and grazing-
land,
Or all but anything he has set his heart on.
It is not all because of my good name
I'd have him live, for I have found him a
man
15
THE KING S THRESHOLD
That might well hit the fancy of a king
Banished out of his country, or a woman's,
Or any other's that can judge a man
For what he is. But I that sit a throne,
And take my measure from the needs of
the state,
Call his wild thought that over -runs the
measure,
Making words more than deeds, and his
proud will
That would unsettle all, most mischievous,
And he himself a most mischievous man.
Senias. King, whether you did right or
wrong in this
Let the King say, for all that I need say
Is that there's nothing that cries out for
death
In the withholding of that ancient right,
And that I will persuade him. Your own
words
Had been enough persuasion were it not
That he is lost in dreams that hunger
makes,
16
THE KING S THRESHOLD
And therefore heedless, or lost in heedless
sleep.
King. I leave him to your love, that it
may promise
Plough-lands and grass-lands, jewels and
silken wear,
Or anything but that old right of the poets.
\_Hegoes out. The Pupils, who have been
standing perfectly quiet, all turn
towards SEANCHAN, and move a
step nearer.
Senias. The King did wrong to abrogate
our right,
But Seanchan, who talks of dying for it,
Talks foolishly. Look at us, Seanchan,
Waken out of your dream and look at us,
Who have ridden under the moon and all
the day,
Until the moon has all but come again,
That we might be beside you.
[SEANCHAN turns half round leaning on
his elbow, and speaks as if in a
dream.
in. 17 c
THE KING'S THRESHOLD
Seanchan. I was but now
At Almhuin, in a great high-raftered house,
With Finn and Osgar. Odours of roast
flesh
Rose round me and I saw the roasting spits,
And then the dream was broken, and I saw
Grania dividing salmon by a pool,
And then I was awakened by your voice.
Senias. It is your hunger that makes you
dream of flesh
Roasting, and for your hunger I could weep ;
And yet the hunger of the crane that starves
Because the moonlight glittering on the pool
And flinging a pale shadow has made it shy,
Seems to me little more fantastical
Than this that's blown into so great a
trouble.
Seanchan. [ Who has turned away again^\
There is much truth in that, for all things
change
At times, as if the moonlight altered them,
And my mind alters as if it were the crane's;
For when the heavy body has grown weak
18
THE KING S THRESHOLD
There's nothing that can tether the wild
mind
That being moonstruck and fantastical
Goes where it fancies. I had even thought
I knew your voice and face, but now the
words
Are so unlikely that I needs must ask
Who is it that bids me put my hunger by ?
Senias. I am your oldest pupil, Seanchan ;
The one that has been with you many years,
So many that you said at Candlemas
That I had almost done with school, and
knew
All but all that poets understand.
Seanchan. My oldest pupil. No, that
cannot be ;
For it is someone of the courtly crowds
That have been round about me from sun-
rise
And I am tricked by dreams, but I'll refute
them.
I asked the pupil that I loved the best,
At Candlemas, why poetry is honoured,
19
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Wishing to know how he'd defend our craft
In distant lands among strange churlish
Kings.
And he'd an answer.
Senias. I said the poets hung
Images of the life that was in Eden
About the childbed of the world, that it,
Looking upon those images, might bear
Triumphant children ; but why must I stand
here
Repeating an old lesson while you starve?
Seanchan. Tell on, for I begin to know
the voice ;
What evil thing will come upon the world
If the arts perish?
Senias. If the arts should perish
The world that lacked them would be like
a woman
That looking on the cloven lips of a hare
Brings forth a hare-lipped child.
Seanchan. But that 's not all.
For when I asked you how a man should
guard
20
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Those images you had an answer also,
If you're the man that you have claimed
to be,
Comparing them to venerable things
God gave to men before he gave them
wheat.
Senias. I answered, and the word was
half your own,
That he should guard them, as the men of
Dea
Guard their four treasures, as the Grail
King guards
His holy cup, or the pale righteous horse
The jewel that is underneath his horn,
Pouring out life for it, as one pours out
Sweet heady wine — but now I under-
stand
You would refute me out of my own mouth ;
And yet a place at table near the King
Is nothing of great moment, Seanchan.
How does so light a thing touch poetry?
[SEANCHAN is now sitting up. He still
looks dreamily in front of him.
21
THE KING'S THRESHOLD
Seanc/ian. At Candlemas you called this
poetry
One of the fragile mighty things of God
That die at an insult.
Senias. [To other Pupils.] Give me some
true answer.
For on that day we spoke about the court
And said that all that was insulted there
The world insulted, for the courtly life,
Being the first comely child of the world,
Is the world's model. How shall I answer
him?
Can you not give me some true argu-
ment ?
I will not tempt him with a lying one.
A rias . [ Throwing himself at S EAN CHAN' s
feetJ] Why did you take me from
my father's fields?
If you would leave me now, what shall I
love?
Where shall I go, what shall I set my
hand to?
And why have you put music in my ears
22
THE KING S THRESHOLD
If you would send me to the clattering
houses?
I will throw down the trumpet and the harp,
For how could I sing verses or make music
With none to praise me and a broken heart ?
Seanchan. What was it that the poets
promised you
If it was not their sorrow? Do not speak.
Have I not opened school on these bare
steps,
And are not you the youngest of my
scholars ?
And I would have all know that when all
falls
In ruin, poetry calls out in joy,
Being the scattering hand, the bursting pod,
The victim's joy among the holy flame,
God's laughter at the shattering of the
world,
And now that joy laughs out and weeps
and burns
On these bare steps.
Arias. O Master, do not die.
23
THE KING S THRESHOLD
\Three men come in. CIAN and BRIAN,
old men carrying basket with food,
and MAYOR OF KINVARA. They
stand at the side listening.
Senias. Trouble him with no useless
argument.
Be silent; there is nothing we can do
Except find out the King and kneel to
him
And beg our ancient right. These three
have come
To say whatever we could say and more,
And fare as badly. Come, boy, that 's no use ;
[He lifts the Boy up.
If it seem well that we beseech the King,
Lay down your harps and trumpets on the
stones
In silence and come with me silently.
Come with slow footfalls and bow all your
heads,
For a bowed head becomes a mourner best.
[ They lay the harps and trumpets down
one by one and then go out very
24
THE KING S THRESHOLD
solemnly and slowly, following one
another,
dan. Let's show the food that 's in the
basket.
Mayor. \Who carries an Ogham stick.~\
No,
I must get through my speech or I'll forget
it;
Besides, there is no reason why he'd eat
Till he has heard my reasons.
dan. It were better
To show what we have brought him in the
basket,
For we have nothing that he has not liked
From boyhood.
Brian. For we have not brought kings'
food
That 's cooked for everybody and nobody.
Mayor. You are not showing right
respect to me,
Or to the people of Kinvara, when you wish
That something else should come before
my message.
25
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Seanchan. What brings you here ? I
never sent for you.
dan. He must be famishing, he looks
so pale.
We had better get the food out first. I
tell you,
That we have brought the things he likes
the best.
Mayor. No, no; I lost a word at every
cross road
And maybe if I do not speak it now
I'll have forgot it.
dan. Well, out with it quickly.
Seanchan. Why, what's this foolery?
Mayor. No foolery ;
A message from the richest, best born
townsman
Of your own town, and from your aged
father.
Cian. Run through it while I am getting
out the food.
Mayor. How was I to begin? What was
the word
26
THE KING S THRESHOLD
That was to keep it in my memory?
Wait, I have notched it on this Ogham
stick.
"Chief poet," "Ireland," "Townsman";
that is it.
Chief poet of Ireland, when we heard that
trouble
Had come between you and the King of
Ireland
It plunged us in deep sorrow, part for
you,
Our honoured townsman, part for our good
town.
The King was said to be most friendly to us,
And we had reasons, as you'll recollect,
For thinking that he was about to give
Those grazing lands inland we so much
need,
Being pinched between the water and the
rocks.
But now his friendliness being ill repaid
Will be turned from us and our town get
nothing.
27
THE KING S THRESHOLD
But there was something else — I'll find the
word
That was to keep it in my memory.
"Pride" — that's the word, — we would not
have you think,
Weighty as these considerations are,
That they have been as weighty in our
minds
As our desire that one we take much pride
in,
A man who has been an honour to our town,
Should live and prosper, therefore we be-
seech you
To give way in a matter of no moment,
A matter of mere sentiment, a trifle,
That we may always keep our pride in you.
Seanchan. Their pride, their pride, what
do they know of pride?
My pupils do not know it, for they beg
From the King's favour what is theirs by
right,
And how can men, that God has made so
weak
28
THE KING S THRESHOLD
They need a rich man's favour every day,
Know anything of pride ?
dan. \To MAYOR.] You have spoken it
wrongly.
You have forgotten something out of it
about the cattle dying.
Mayor. Maybe you do not know, being
much away,
How many of our cattle died last winter
From lacking grass, and that there was
much sickness
Because the poor had nothing but salt fish
To live upon. The people all came out
And stood about the doors as I went by.
Seanchan. What would you have of me ?
For there are men that shall be born at last
And find sweet nurture that they may have
voices
Even in anger like the strings of harps.
Yet how could they be born to majesty
If I had never made the golden cradle?
Mayor. Whatis it ? " Father "— " Mother ";
that is it;
29
THE KING'S THRESHOLD
Your father sends this message.
dan. He is listening.
Mayor. He says that he is old and that
he needs you,
And that the people will be pointing at him
And he not able to lift up his head
If you should turn the King's favour away.
And he adds to it, that he cared you well,
And you in your young age, and that it 's
right
That you should care him now.
Cian. And when he spoke
He cried because the stiffness of his bones
Prevented him from coming.
Mayor. But your mother
Has sent no message, for when they had
told her
The way it is between you and the King
She said, " No message can do any good,
He will not send the answer that you want;
We cannot change him," and she went in-
doors,
Lay down upon her bed and turned her face
30
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Out of the light. And thereupon your father
Said, " Tell him how she is, and that she
sends
No message." I have nothing more to say.
Cian and Brian, you can set out the food.
[He sits down on steps. SEANCHAN is
silent.
Mayor. I have a horse waiting outside
the town
To bring me home, and all the neighbours
wait
Your answer. What answer am I to bring ?
Seanchan. Give them my answer — no, I
have no answer:
My mother knew it.
Mayor. Maybe you have forgotten
That all our fields are so heaped up with
stones
That the goats famish, and the mowers mow
With knives, and that the King half pro-
mised us
Seanchan. Thrust that old cloak of yours
into your mouth
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Till it 's done gabbling.
Mayor. B u t
dan. You have said enough;
I knew that you would never speak it right
Seanckan. Our mothers know us, they
know us to the bone,
They knew us before birth, and that is why
They know us even better than the sweet-
hearts
Upon whose breasts we have lain.
Brian. We have brought your honour
The food that you have always liked the
best,
Young pigeons from Kinvara, and water-
cress
Out of the stream that's by the blessed
well,
And dulse from Duras. Here is the dulse,
your honour,
It is wholesome, and has the good taste of
the sea.
Seanckan. O Brian, you would spread
the table for me
32
THE KING S THRESHOLD
As you would spread it when I was in my
childhood;
But all that 's finished.
Mayor. I knew he would not care
For country things now that he's grown
accustomed
To the King's dishes. I told Brian too
He'd have his pains for nothing. But he's
old.
\_Goes over to table at right. While he
is speaking ^AK^ and BRIAN are in
vain offering SEANCHAN food.
And what dishes! Venison from Slieve
Echtge
Fattened with poor men's crops ; flesh of
wild pig;
Not fat nor lean, but streaky and right well
cured ;
Bread that's the whitest that I've ever
seen.
dan. You're in the right, you're in the
right, he will not eat.
[Pouring wine into cup.
m 33 D
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Mayor. Bring him some wine, it will give
him strength to eat.
[BRIAN brings wine over towards
SEANCHAN.
No wonder if the King is proud and merry,
And keeps all day in the saddle, when even I
Am well-nigh drunken with the odour of it,
And if I dared — I dare not.
dan. Drink it, sir.
Brian. Drink a few drops.
Seanchan. Drink it yourself, old man,
For you have come a journey, and I daresay
You did not eat or drink upon the road.
dan. How can I drink it when your
honour 's thirsty ?
\Heofferscupagain. The King's House-
hold comes in. CHAMBERLAIN with
long staff, a Soldier, a Monk, two
Ladies, followed by Cripples who
beg from the ladies, who keep close
together at right, talking to each
other at intervals. Soldier goes
over to MAYOR, and talks to him.
34
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Chamberlain. Well, have you it in im-
agination still
To overthrow the dignity of the King,
Or is the game finished ? [A pause.
How many days
Will you keep up this quarrel with the King,
With the King's nobles and myself and all
Who'd gladly be your friends if you would
let them ?
Soldier. [ Who has been speaking to MAYOR
and Servants.] Was it you that sent
his servants and the Mayor
Of his own town to wheedle him into life ?
Chamberlain. It was the King himself.
Soldier. Was it worth our while
To have got rid of him from the King's table
If he is to be humoured and made much of?
Chamberlain. It seems that he has not
eaten yet, although
He's had another dozen hours of hunger.
Soldier. If he 's so proud and obstinate a
neck
I'd let him starve.
35
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Monk. Persuade him to eat, my lord.
His death would make a scandal, and stir up
The common people.
Chamberlain. And I have a fancy
That if it brought misfortune on the King,
Or the King's house, we'd be as little
thought of
As summer linen when the winter 's come.
Aileen. [To CIAN.] You've had no luck,
old man.
dan. We have not, lady.
Aileen. Maybe he 's out of humour with
your ways,
Having grown used to sprightlier service.
dan. Maybe.
But the King's messengers have gone for
one
That will persuade him. [To BRIAN.] Come,
let us go;
For she might lose her way in this fine place.
Come, we have been too long upon the tree,
[Plucking sleeve of MAYOR.
And there are little golden pippins here.
36
THE KING S THRESHOLD
Soldier. Give me the dish, I'll hand it
him myself.
Aileen. I wonder if she is pretty.
[MAYOR and Servants have gone out.
Soldier. Eat this, old hedgehog.
Sniff up the savour and unroll yourself.
But if I were the King I'd make you do it
With wisps of lighted straw.
Seanchan. You have rightly named me,
I lie rolled up under the ragged thorns
That are upon the edge of those great
waters
Where all things vanish away, and I have
heard
Murmurs that are the ending of all sound.
I am out of life, I am rolled up, and yet,
Hedgehog although I am, I'll not unroll
For you, King's dog. Go to the King, your
master,
Crouch down and wag your tail, for it
may be
He has nothing now against you, and I
think
37
THE KING'S THRESHOLD
The stripes of your last beating are all
healed.
Chamberlain. Don't answer, you were
never to his mind.
And now you have angered him to no good
purpose.
But put the dish down and I will speak to
him.
Seanchan. You must needs keep your
patience yet awhile,
For I have some few mouthfuls of sweet air
To swallow before I have grown to be as
civil
As any other dust.
Chamberlain. You wrong us, Seanchan,
There is none here but holds you in respect,
And if you would only eat out of this dish
The King would show howmuch he honours
you.
Aileen. \Giving Cripple money. ~\ You are
always discontented. Look at this
cripple,
He has had to cover up his eyes with rags
38
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Because they are too weak to look at the
sun,
And has a crooked body, and yet he is
cheerful.
Stand there where he can see you.
[Cripple goes over and stands in front
of SEANCHAN, bowing and smiling.
Chamberlain. We have come to you
Because we wish you a long, prosperous life ;
Who could imagine you'd so take to heart
Being put from the high table.
Seanchan. It was not I
That you have driven away from the high
table,
But the images of them that weave a dance,
By the four rivers in the mountain garden.
Monk. He means we have driven poetry
away.
Chamberlain. It is the men who are
learned in the laws,
Or have led the King's armies that should
sit
At the King's table. Nor has poetry
39
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Been altogether driven away, for I,
As you should know, have written poetry,
And often when the table has been cleared
And candles lighted, the King calls for me
And I repeat it him. My poetry
Is not to be compared with yours, but still
Where I am honoured, poetry is honoured
In some measure.
Seanchan. If you are a poet,
Cry out that the King's money would not
buy,
Nor the high circle consecrate his head,
If poets had never christened gold, and even
The moon's poor daughter, that most whey-
faced metal,
Precious ; and cry out that none alive
Would ride among the arrows with high
heart
Or scatter with an open hand, had not
Our heady craft commended wasteful vir-
tues.
And when that story's finished, shake your
coat
40
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Where the little jewels gleam on it, and say
A herdsman sitting where the pigs had
trampled
Made up a song about enchanted kings,
Who were so finely dressed one fancied
them
All fiery, and women by the churn
And children by the hearth caught up the
song
And murmured it until the tailors heard it.
Monk. How proud these poets are! It
was full time
To break their pride.
Seanchan. And I would have you say
That when we are driven out we come
again
Like a great wind that runs out of the waste
To blow the tables flat.
Chamberlain. If you 'd eat something
You'd find you have these thoughts because
you are hungry.
Seanchan. And when you have told them
all these things, lie down
4*
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
On this bare threshold and starve until the
King
Restore to us the ancient right of the poets.
Aileen. Let 's come away. There 's no
use talking to him,
For he 's resolved to die, and that 's no loss :
We will go watch the hurley.
Monk. You should obey
The King's commandment and not ques-
tion it,
For it is God himself who has made him
king.
Essa. Let's .hear his answer to the
monk.
Seanchan. Stoop down,
For there is something I would say to you.
Has that wild God of yours that was so wild
When you'd but lately taken the King's pay,
Grown any tamer ? He gave you all much
trouble
Being so unruly and inconsiderate.
Aileen. What does he mean ?
Monk. Let go my habit, Seanchan.
42
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Seanchan. Or it may be you have per-
suaded him
To chirp between two dishes when the
King
Sits down to table.
Monk. Let go my habit, sir.
What do I care about your insolent dreams.
Seanchan. And maybe he has learnt to
sing quite softly
Because loud singing would disturb the
King
Who is sitting drowsily among his friends
After the table has been cleared
Monk. Let go.
[SEANCHAN has been dragged some feet,
clinging to the MONK'S habit.
Seanchan. Not yet; you did not think
that hungry hands
Could be so strong. They are not civil
yet —
I'd know if you have taught him to eat bread
From the King's hand, and perch upon his
finger.
43
THE KINGS THRESHOLD.
I think he perches on the King's strong
hand,
But it may be that he is still too wild.
You must not weary in your work ; a King
Is often weary and he needs a God
To be a comfort to him.
\The MONK plucks his habit away.
SEANCHAN holds up his hand as if
a bird perched upon it. He pretends
to stroke the bird.
A little god,
With soft well-coloured feathers, and bright
eyes.
Aileen. We have listened long enough.
Essa. Let us away,
Where we can watch the young men at the
hurley.
Seanchan. Yes, yes, go to the hurley, go
to the hurley,
Go to the hurley, gather up your skirts,
Run quickly. You can remember many
love songs ;
I know it by the light that 's in your eyes,
44
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
But you'll forget them. You're fair to look
on,
Your feet delight in dancing, and your
mouths
In the slow smiling that awakens love.
The mothers that have borne you mated
rightly,
For they had little ears as thirsty as are
yours
For many love-songs. Go to the young
men :
Are not the ruddy flesh and the thin
flanks
And the broad shoulders worthy of desire ?
Go from me. Here is nothing for your
eyes,
But it is I that am singing you away,
Singing you to the young men.
[ The two young PRINCESSES BUAN and
FINNHUA come in. While he has
been speaking AILEEN and ESSA
have shmnk back holding each
other s hands.
45
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Aileen. Be quiet ;
Look who it is that has come out of the
house.
Princesses, we are for the hurling field.
Will you come too ?
Princess Buan. We will go with you,
Aileen,
But we must have some words with Sean-
chan,
For we have come to make him eat and
drink.
Chamberlain. I will hold out the dish and
cup for him
While you are speaking to him of his
folly,
If you desire it, Princess.
\He has taken up dish and cup.
Princess Buan. Give me the cup.
My sister there will carry the dish of
meat:
We'll offer them ourselves.
Aileen. They are so gracious,
The dear little princesses are so gracious.
46
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
[PRINCESS BUAN holds out her hand for
SEANCHAN to kiss it ; he does not
move.
Although she is holding out her hand to him
He will not kiss it.
Princess Buan. My father bids us say
That though he cannot have you at his
table,
You may ask any other thing you like
And he will give it you. We carry you
A dish and a cup of wine, with our own
hands,
To show in what great honour you are held.
Will you not drink a little ? Does he not
show
Every befitting honour to the poets ?
Aileen. O look, he has taken it, he has
taken it !
The dear princesses, I have always said
That nobody could refuse them anything.
[SEANCHAN takes the cup in one hand>
in the other he holds for a moment
the hand of the PRINCESS.
47
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Seanchan. O long soft fingers and pale
finger-tips
Well worthy to be laid in a king's hand ;
0 you have fair white hands, for it is
certain
There is uncommon whiteness in these
hands.
But there is something comes into my mind,
Princess. A little while before your birth
1 saw your mother sitting by the road
In a high chair, and when a leper passed
She pointed him the way into the town,
And he lifted his hand and blessed her
hand;
I saw it with my own eyes. Hold out your
hands,
I will find out if they are contaminated ;
For it has come into my thoughts that
may be
The King has sent me food and drink by
hands
That are contaminated. I would see all your
hands,
48
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
You've eyes of dancers, but hold out your
hands,
For it may be there are none sound among
you
[The PRINCESSES have shrunk back in
terror.
Princess Buan. He has called us lepers.
Chamberlain. He 's out of his mind,
And does not know the meaning of what
he said.
Seanchan. {Standing upJ\ There are no
sound hands among you. No sound
hands.
Away with you, away with all of you,
You are all lepers. There is leprosy
Among the plates and dishes that you have
brought me.
I would know why you have brought me
leper's wine?
\_Heflings the wine in their faces.
There, there, I have given it to you again,
and now
Begone or I will give my curse to you.
in. 49 E
THE KING'S THRESHOLD.
You have the leper's blessing, but you think
Maybe the bread will something lack in
savour
Unless you mix my curse into the dough.
[They go out to L., all except the
Cripples. SEANCHAN is stagger-
ing in the middle of the stage.
Seanchan. Where did I say the leprosy
came from ?
I said it came out of a leper's hand
And that he walked the highway; but that 's
folly,
For he was walking up there in the sky
And there he is even now with his white
hand
Thrust out of the blue air and blessing
them
With leprosy.
A Cripple. He 's pointing at the moon
That 's coming out up yonder, and he calls it
Leprous, because the daylight whitens it.
Seanchan. He's holding up his hand
above them all
50
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
King, Noblemen, Princesses, blessing all.
Who could imagine he'd have so much
patience.
First Cripple. Come out of this.
[Clutching other Cripple.
Second Cripple. If you don't need it, sir,
May we not carry some of it away?
[He points to food.
Seanchan. Who 's speaking ? Who are
you ?
First Cripple. Come out of this.
Second Cripple. Have pity on us, that
must beg our bread
From table to table throughout the entire
world
And yet be hungry.
Seanchan. But why were you born
crooked ?
What bad poet did your mothers listen to
That you were born so crooked?
First Cripple. Come away.
Maybe he 's cursed the food and it might
kill us.
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Second Cripple. Yes, better come away.
[ They go out.
Seanchan. \_Staggering and speaking
wearily '.] He has great strength
And great patience to hold his right hand
there
Uplifted and not wavering about;
He is much stronger than I am, much
stronger. \He sinks down on steps.
Enter from R. FEDELM, CIAN and BRIAN.
Brian. There he is lying. Go over to
him now
And bid him eat.
Fedelm. I'll get him out of this
Before I have said a word of food and drink ;
For while he is on this threshold and can
hear,
It may be, the voices that made mock of him,
He would not listen.
Brian. That is a good plan.
But there is little time, for he is weakening.
52
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Fedelm. \CryingI\ I cannot think of any
other plan
Although it breaks my heart.
Cian. Let's leave them now,
For she will press the honey from her bag
When we are gone.
Brian. It will be hard to move him
If hunger and thirst have got into his
bones.
\They go out leaving FEDELM and
SEANCHAN alone. FEDELM runs
over to SEANCHAN and kneels down
before him.
Fedelm. Seanchan ! Seanchan !
\He remains looking into the sky.
Can you not see me, Seanchan?
It is myself.
[SEANCHAN looks at her dreamily at
first, then takes her hand.
Seanchan. Is this your hand, Fedelm?
I have been looking at another hand
That is up yonder.
Fedelm. I have come for you.
53
THE KING'S THRESHOLD.
Seanchan. Fedelm, I did not know that
you were here.
Fedelm. And can you not remember that
I promised
That I would come and take you home with
me
When I'd the harvest in? and now I've
come,
And you must come away, and come on the
instant.
Seanchan. Yes, I will come; but is the
harvest in ?
This air has got a summer taste in it.
Fedelm. But is not the wild middle of the
summer
A better time to marry ? Come with me now.
Seanchan. [Seizing her by both wrists.~\
Who taught you that, for it's a certainty,
Although I never knew it till last night,
That marriage, because it is the height of
life,
Can only be accomplished to the full
In the high days of the year. I lay awake,
54
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
There had come a frenzy into the light of
the stars
And they were coming nearer and I knew
All in a minute they were about to marry
Clods out upon the plough-lands, to beget
A mightier race than any that has been ;
But some that are within there made a
noise
And frighted them away.
Fedelm. Come with me now;
We have far to go, and daylight 's running
out.
Seanchan. The stars had come so near
me that I caught
Their singing ; it was praise of that great
race
That would be haughty, mirthful, and white-
bodied
With a high head, and open hand, and how
Laughing, it would take the mastery of the
world.
Fedelm. But you will tell me all about
their songs
55
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
When we're at home. You have need of
rest and care,
And I can give them you when we're at
home,
And therefore let us hurry and get us
home.
Seanchan. That's true; and there's some
trouble here, although
I cannot now remember what it is,
And I would get away from it. Give me
your help.
But why are not my pupils here to help me ?
Go, call my pupils, for I need their help.
Fedelm. Come with me now, and I will
send for them,
For I have a great room that 's full of beds
I can make ready, and there is a smooth
lawn
Where they can play at hurley and sing
poems
Under an apple-tree.
Seanchan. I know that place,
An apple tree and a smooth level lawn,
56
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Where the young men can sway their hurley
sticks.
Sings.
The four rivers that run there,
Through well-mown level ground,
Have come out of a blessed well
That is all bound and wound
By the great roots of an apple,
And all fowls of the air
Have gathered in the wide branches
And keep singing there.
[FEDELM, troubled, has covered her eyes
with her hands.
Fedelm. No, there are not four rivers,
and those rhymes
Praise Adam's Paradise.
Seanchan. I can remember now.
It's out of a poem I made long ago
About the garden in the east of the
world,
And how spirits in the images of birds
Crowd in the branches of old Adam's crab-
tree;
57
THE KING'S THRESHOLD.
They come before me now and dig in the
fruit
With so much gluttony, and are so drunk
With that harsh, wholesome savour that
their feathers
Are clinging one to another with the juice.
But you would take me to some friendly
place,
And I would go there quickly.
Fedelm. Come with me.
\_She helps him to rise. He walks slowly,
supported by her till he comes to the
table at R.
Seanchan. But why am I so weak ? Have
I been ill?
Sweetheart, why is it that I am so weak ?
[He sinks on to the seat.
Fedelm. I'll dip this piece of bread into
the wine,
For that will make you stronger for the
journey.
Seanchan. Yes, give me bread and wine,
that 's what I want,
58
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
For it is hunger that is gnawing me.
\Hetakes bread from FEDELM, hesitates,
and then thrusts it back into her
hand.
But no, I must not eat it.
Fedelm. Eat, Seanchan,
For if you do not eat it you will die.
Seanchan. Why did you give me food?
Why did you come?
For had I not enough to fight against
Without your coming ?
Fedelm. Eat this little crust,
Seanchan, if you have any love for me.
Seanchan. I must not eat it: but that's
beyond your wit;
Child, child, I must not eat it though I
die.
Fedelm. You do not know what love is,
for if you loved
You would put every other thought away
But you have never loved me.
Seanchan. \Seizingherby the wrist ^\ You,
a child.
59
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Who have but seen a man out of the win-
dow,
Tell me that I know nothing about love,
And that I do not love you. Did I not say
There was a frenzy in the light of the stars
All through the livelong night, and that the
night
Was full of marriages ? But that fight's
over.
And all that 's done with, and I have to die.
Fedelm. [ Throwing her arms about himl\
I will not be put from you, although
I think
I had not grudged it you if some great lady,
If the King's daughter, had set out your
bed.
I will not give you up to death ; no, no,
And are not these white arms and this soft
neck
Better than the brown earth ?
Seanchan. I swear an oath
Upon the holy tree that I'll not eat
Until the King restore the right of the poets.
60
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
0 Sun and Moon, and all things that have
strength,
Become my strength that I may put a
curse
On all things that would have me break this
oath.
[FEDELM has sunk down on the ground
while he says this, and crouches at
his feet.
Fedelm, Seanchan, do not curse me ;
from this out
1 will obey like any married wife.
Let me but lie before your feet.
Seanchan. Come nearer.
[He kisses her.
If I had eaten when you bid me, sweetheart,
The kiss of multitudes in times to come
Had been the poorer.
King. [Entering from kouse.~] ' Has he
eaten yet ?
Fedelm. No, King, and will not till you
have restored
The right of the poets.
61
THE KINGS THRESHOLD.
King. \Comingdown and standing before
SEANCHAN.] Seanchan, you have
refused
Everybody that I have sent, and now
I come to you myself, and I have come
To bid you put your pride as far away
As I have put my pride. I had your
love
Not a great while ago, and now you have
planned
To put a voice by every cottage fire
And in the night when no one sees who
cries
To cry against me till my throne has
crumbled.
And yet if I give way I must offend
My courtiers and nobles till they too
Strike at the crown. What would you have
of me?
Seanchan. When did the poets promise
safety, King ?
King. Seanchan, I bring you bread in
my own hands,
62
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
And bid you eat it because of all these
reasons,
And for this further reason that I love you.
[SEANCHAN pushes bread away with
FEDELM'S hand.
You have refused it, Seanchan.
Seanchan. We have refused it.
King. I have been patient though I am
a king,
And have the means to force you — but
that 's ended,
And I am but a king and you a subject.
[He goes up steps.
Nobles and courtiers, bring the poets hither
For you can have your way : I that was man
With a man's heart am now all king again,
Remembering that the seed I come of,
although
A hundred kings have sown it and re-
sown it,
Has neither trembled nor shrunk backward
yet
Because of the hard business of a king.
63
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
[Princesses, Ladies, and Courtiers have
come in with Pupils, who have
halters round their necks.
Speak to your master, beg your life of him,
Show him the halters that are round your
necks ;
If his heart 's set upon it he may die,
But you shall all die with him ; beg your
lives ;
Begin, for you have little time to lose ;
Begin it you that are the oldest pupil.
Senias. [Going up to SEANCHAN.] Die,
Seanchan, and proclaim the right of
the poets.
King. Silence, you are as crazy as your
master.
But that young boy that seems the youngest
of you,
I'd have him speak. Kneel down before
him, boy,
Hold up your hands to him that he may
pluck
That milky coloured neck out of the noose.
64
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
Arias. Die, Seanchan, and proclaim the
right of the poets.
[All the Pupils turn towards the KING,
holding out the ends of their halters.
Senias. Gather the halters up into your
hands
And lead us where you will, for in all things
But in our art we are obedient.
\_The KING comes slowly down the steps.
King. \Kneeling down before SEANCHAN.]
Kneel down, kneel down, he has the
greater power.
I give my crown to you.
[All kneel except SEANCHAN, FEDELM
1 and Pupils. SEANCHAN rises
slowly, supported by one of the
Pupils and by FEDELM.
Seanchan. O crown, O crown,
It is but right if hands that made the crown
In the old time should give it when they
will.
O silver trumpets be you lifted up
\_He lays the crown on the KING'S head.
in. 65 F
THE KING S THRESHOLD.
And cry to the great race that is to come.
Long-throated swans among the waves of
time
Sing loudly, for beyond the wall of the
world
It waits and it may hear and come to us.
[Some of the Pupils blow a blast upon
their horns.
CURTAIN.
66
ON BAILE'S STRAND
ON BAILE'S STRAND.
CUCHULLAIN, the King of Muirthemne.
CONCOBAR, the High King of Ullad.
DAIRE, a King.
FINTAIN, a blind man.
BARACH, a fool.
A Young Man.
Young Kings and Old Kings.
SCENE : A great hall by the sea close to
Dundalgan. There are two great chairs
on either side of the hall, each raised a
little from the ground, and on the back
of the one chair is carved and painted
a woman with a fish's tail, and on the
back of the other a hound. There are
smaller chairs and benches raised in
tiers round the walls. There is a great
ale vat at one side near a small door,
and a large door at the back through
which one can see the sea. BARACH, a
69
ON BAILE'S STRAND.
tall thin man with long ragged hair,
dressed in skins, comes in at the side
door. He is leading FINTAIN, a fat
blind man, who is somewhat older.
Barach. I will shut the door, for this
wind out of the sea gets into my bones,
and if I leave but an inch for the wind
there is one like a flake of sea-frost that
might come into the house.
Fintain. What is his name, fool?
Barach. It's a woman from among the
Riders of the Sidhe. It's Boann herself
from the river. She has left the Dagda's
bed, and gone through the salt of the sea
and up here to the strand of Baile, and all
for love of me. Let her keep her husband's
bed, for she'll have none of me. Nobody
knows how lecherous these goddesses are.
I see her in every kind of shape but oftener
than not she's in the wind and cries "give
a kiss and put your arms about me." But
no, she '11 have no more of me. Yesterday
70
ON BAILE S STRAND.
when I. put out my lips to kiss her, there
was nothing there but the wind. She's
bad, Fintain. O, she's bad. I had better
shut the big door too.
[He is going towards the big door but
turns hearing FINTAIN'S voice.
Fintain. [ Who has been feeling about with
his stick^\ What 's this and this ?
Barach. They are chairs.
Fintain. And this?
Barach. Why, that's a bench.
Fintain. And this?
Barach. A big chair.
Fintain. [Feeling the back of the chair I\
There is a sea-woman carved upon it.
Barach. And there is another big chair
on the other side of the hall.
Fintain. Lead me to it. [He mutters
while tlie fool is leading kim.~\ That is what
the High King Concobar has on his shield.
The High King will be coming. They have
brought out his chair. \He begins feeling the
back of the other chairl\ And there is a
ON BAILE S STRAND.
dog's head on this. They have brought out
our master's chair. Now I know what the
horse-boys were talking about. We must
not stay here. The Kings are going to
meet here. Now that Concobar and our
master, that is his chief man, have put
down all the enemies of Ullad, they are
going to build up Emain again. They are
going to talk over their plans for building
it. Were you ever in Concobar's town
before it was burnt? O, he is a great King,
for though Emain was burnt down, every
war had made him richer. He has gold
and silver dishes, and chessboards and
candlesticks made of precious stones. Fool,
have they taken the top from the ale vat?
Barach. They have.
Fintain. Then bring me a horn of ale
quickly, for the Kings will be here in a
minute. Now I can listen. Tell me what
you saw this morning?
Barach. About the young man and the
fighting?
72
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Fintain. Yes.
Barach. And after that we can go and
eat the fowl, for I am hungry.
Fintain. Time enough, time enough.
You're in as great a hurry as when you
brought me to Aine's Seat, where the mad
dogs gather when the moon 's at the full.
Go on with your story.
Barach. I was creeping under a ditch,
with the fowl in my leather bag, keeping
to the shore where the farmer could not see
me, when I came upon a ship drawn up
upon the sands, a great red ship with a
woman's head upon it.
Fintain. A ship out of Aoife's country.
They have all a woman's head on the
bow.
Barach. There was a young man with a
pale face and red hair standing beside it.
Some of our people came up whose turn it
was to guard the shore. I heard them ask
the young man his name. He said he was
under bonds not to tell it. Then words
73
ON BAILE S STRAND.
came between them, and they fought, and
the young man killed half of them, and the
others ran away.
Fintain. It matters nothing to us, but he
has come at last.
Barach. Who has come ?
Fintain. I know who that young man
is. There is not another like him in the
world. I saw him when I had my eye-
sight.
Barach. You saw him?
Fintain. I used to be in Aoife's country
when I had my eyesight.
~~~Barach. That was before you went on
shipboard and were blinded for putting a
curse on the wind?
Fintain. Queen Aoife had a son that
was red haired and pale faced like herself,
and everyone said that he would kill
Cuchullain some day, but I would not
have that spoken of.
Barach. Nobody could do that. Who
was his father?
74
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Fintain. Nobody but Aoife knew that,
not even he himself.
Barach. Not even he himself! Was Aoife
a goddess and lecherous ?
Fintain. I overheard her telling that she
never had but one lover, and that he was
the only man who overcame her in battle.
There were some who thought him one of
the Riders of the Sidhe, because the child
was great of limb and strong beyond others.
The child was begotten over the moun-
tains; but come nearer and I will tell you
something.
Barach. You have thought something?
Fintain. When I hear the young girls — ^
talking about the colour of Cuchullain's
eyes, and how they have seven colours, I
have thought about it. That young man
has Aoife's face and hair, but he has
Cuchullain's eyes.
Barach. How can he have Cuchullain's
eyes?
Fintain. He is Cuchullain's son.
75
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Barach. And his mother has sent him
hither to fight his father.
Fintain. It is all quite plain. Cuchullain
went into Aoife's country when he was a
young man that he might learn skill in arms,
and there he became Aoife's lover.
Barach. And now she hates him because
he went away, and has sent the son to kill
the father. I knew she was a goddess.
Fintain. And she never told him who his
father was, that he might do it. I have
thought it all out, fool. I know a great
many things because I listen when nobody
is noticing and I keep my wits awake.
What ails you now ?
Barach. I have remembered that I am
hungry.
Fintain. Well, forget it again, and I will
tell you about Aoife's country. It is full of
wonders. There are a great many Queens
there who can change themselves into
wolves and into swine and into white hares,
and when they are in their own shapes they
76
ON BAILE S STRAND.
are stronger than almost any man ; and
there are young men there who have cat's
eyes and if a bird chirrup or a mouse squeak
they cannot keep them shut, even though
it is bedtime and they sleepy; and listen,
for this is a great wonder, a very great
wonder: there is a long narrow bridge, and
when anybody goes to cross it, that the
Queens do not like, it flies up as this bench
would if you were to sit on the end of it.
Everybody who goes there to learn skill
in arms has to cross it. It was in that
country too that Cuchullain got his spear
made out of dragon bones. There were
two dragons fighting in the foam of the sea,
and their grandam was the moon, and nine
Queens came along the shore.
Barach. I won't listen to your story.
Fintain. It is a very wonderful story.
Wait till you hear what the nine Queens did.
Their right hands were all made of silver.
Barach. No, I will have my dinner first.
You have eaten the fowl I left in front of
77
ON BAILE S STRAND.
the fire. /The last time you sent me to steal
something you made me forget all about it
till you had eaten it up.
Fintain. No, there is plenty for us both.
Barach. Come with me where it is.
Fintain. \Who is being led towards the
door at the back by BARACH.] O, it is all
right, it is in a safe place.
Barach. It is a fine fowl. It was the
biggest in the yard.
Fintain. It had a good smell, but I hope
that the wild dogs have not smelt it. [ Voices
are heard outside the door at the sideJ] Here
is our master. Let us stay and talk with
him. Perhaps Cuchullain will give you a
new cap with a feather. He told me that
he would give you a new cap with a feather,
a feather with an eye that looks at you, a
peacock's feather.
Barach. No, no.
\He begins pulling FINTAIN towards
the door.
Fintain. If you do not get it now, you
78
ON BAILE S STRAND.
may never get it, for the young man may I -J-*
kill him.
Barach. No, no, I am hungry. What
a head you have, blind man! Who but
you would have remembered that the
hen-wife slept for a little at noon every
day!
Fintain. \Who is being led along very
slowly and unwillingly^ Yes, I have a good
head. The fowl should be done just right,
but one never knows when a wild dog may C
come out of the woods.
[ They go out through the big door at the
back. As they go out CUCHULLAIN
and certain YOUNG KINGS come
in at the side door. CUCHULLAIN,
though still young, is a good deal
older than the others. They are all
very gaily dressed, and have their
hair fastened with balls of gold.
The young men crowd about
CUCHULLAIN with wondering at-
tention.
79
ON BAILE S STRAND.
First Young King. You have hurled that
stone beyond our utmost mark
Time after time, but yet you are not weary.
Second Young King. He has slept on the
bare ground of Fuad's Hill
This week past, waiting for the bulls and
the deer.
Cuchullain. Well, why should I be weary?
First Young King. It is certain
His father was the god who wheels the sun,
And not King Sualtam.
Third Young King. \To a YOUNG KING
who is beside him.~] He came in the dawn,
And folded Dectara in a sudden fire.
Fourth Young King. And yet the mother's
half might well grow weary,
And it new come from labours over sea.
Third Young King. He has been on
islands walled about with silver,
And fought with giants.
[ They gather about the ale vat and
begin to drink.
Cuchullain. Who was it that went out?
80
ON BAILES STRAND.
Third Young King. As we came in ?
Cuchullain. Yes.
Third Young King. Barach and blind
Fintain.
Cuchullain. They always flock together;
the blind man
Has need of the fool's eyesight and strong
body,
While the poor fool has need of the other's
wit,
And night and day is up to his ears in mis-
chief
That the blind man imagines. There 's no
hen-yard
But clucks and cackles when he passes by
As if he'd been a fox. If I'd that ball
That's in your hair and the big stone again,
I'd keep them tossing, though the one is
heavy
And the other light in the hand. A trick I
learnt
When I was learning arms in Aoife's
country,
in. 8 1 G
ON BAILE S STRAND.
First Young King. What kind of woman
was that Aoife?
Cuchullain. Comely.
First Young King. But I have heard
that she was never married,
And yet that's natural, for I have never
known
A fighting woman, but made her favours
cheap,
Or mocked at love till she grew sandy dry.
Cuchullain. What manner of woman do
you like the best?
A gentle or a fierce?
First Young King. A gentle, surely.
Cuckullain. I think that a fierce woman's
better, a woman
That breaks away when you have thought
her won,
For I'd be fed and hungry at one time.
I think that all deep passion is but a kiss
In the mid battle, and a difficult peace
'Twixt oil and water, candles and dark night,
Hill-side and hollow, the hot-footed sun,
82
ON BAILE S STRAND.
And the cold sliding slippery-footed moon,
A brief forgiveness between opposites
That have been hatreds for three times the
age
Of this long 'stablished ground. Here's
Concobar;
So I'll be done, but keep beside me still,
For while he talks of hammered bronze
and asks
What wood is best for building, we can talk
Of a fierce woman.
[CONCOBAR, a man much older than
CUCHULLAIN, has come in through
the great door at the back. He has
many Kings about him. One of
these Kings, DAIRE, a stout old
man, is somewhat drunk.
Concobar. \To one of those aboiit him^\
Has the ship gone yet?
We have need of more bronze workers, and
' that ship
I sent to Africa for gold is late.
Cuchullain. I knew their talk.
83
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Concobar. {Seeing CUCHULLAIN.] You are
before us, King.
Cuchullain. So much the better, for I
welcome you
Into my Muirthemne.
Concobar. But who are these ?
The odour from their garments when they
stir
Is like a wind out of an apple garden.
Cuchullain. My swordsmen and harp
players and fine dancers,
My bosom friends.
Concobar. I should have thought, Cu-
chullain,
My graver company would better match
Your greatness and your years ; but I waste
breath
In harping on that tale.
Cuchullain. You do, great King.
Because their youth is the kind wandering
wave
That carries me about the world; and if it
sank,
84
ON BAILE S STRAND.
My sword would lose its lightness. *"
Concobar. Yet, Cuchullain,
Emain should be the foremost town of the
world.
Cuchullain. It is the foremost town.
Concobar. No, no, it's not.
Nothing but men can make towns great,
and he,
The one over-topping man that's in the
world,
Keeps far away.
Daire. He will not hear you, King,
And we old men had best keep company
With one another. I'll fill the horn for you.
Concobar. I will not drink, old fool. You
have drunk a horn
At every door we came to.
Daire. You'd better drink,
For old men light upon their youth again
In the brown ale. When I have drunk
enough,
I am like Cuchullain as one pea another,
And live like a bird's flight from tree to tree.
85
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Concobar. We'll to our chairs for we have
much to talk of,
And we have Ullad and Muirthemne, and
here
Is Conall Muirthemne in the nick of time.
[He goes to the back of stage to welcome
a company of Kings who come in
through the great door. The other
Kings gradually get into their
places. CUCHULLAIN sits in his
great chair with certain of the
young men standing around him.
Others of the young men, however,
remain with DAIRE at the ale vat.
DAIRE holds out the horn of ale to
one or two of the older Kings as
they pass him going to their places.
They pass him by, most of them
silently refusing.
Daire. Will you not drink?
An Old King. Not till the council's
over.
A Young King. But I'll drink, Daire.
86
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Another Young King. Fill me a horn
too, Daire.
Another Young King. If I'd drunk half
that you have drunk to-day,
I'd be upon all fours.
Daire. That would be natural
When Mother Earth had given you this
good milk
From her great breasts.
Cuchullain. [ To one of the YOUNG KINGS
beside kim.~\ One is content awhile
With a soft warm woman who folds up our
lives
In silky network. Then, one knows not
why,
But one's away after a flinty heart.
The Young King. How long can the net
keep us?
Cuchullain. All our lives
If there are children, and a dozen moons
If there are none, because a growing child
Has so much need of watching it can make
A passion that 's as changeable as the sea
87'
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Change till it holds the wide earth to its
heart.
At least I have heard a father say it, but I
Being childless do not know it. Come
nearer yet;
Though he is ringing that old silver rod
We'll have our own talk out. They cannot
hear us.
[CONCOBAR who is now seated in his
great chair, opposite CUCHULLAIN,
beats upon the pillar of the house
that is nearest to him with a rod
of silver, till the Kings have become
silent. CUCHULLAIN alone continues
to talk in a low voice to those about
him, but not so loud as to disturb
the silence. CONCOBAR rises and
speaks standing.
Concobar. I have called you hither, Kings
of Ullad, and Kings
Of Muirthemne and Connall Muirthemne,
And tributary Kings, for now there is
peace —
88
ON BAILE S STRAND.
It 's time to build up Emain that was burned
At the outsetting of these wars ; for we,
Being the foremost men, should have high
chairs
And be much stared at and wondered at,
and speak
Out of more laughing overflowing hearts
Than common men. It is the art of kings
To make what's noble nobler in men's eyes
By wide uplifted roofs, where beaten gold,
That's ruddy with desire, marries pale silver
Among the shadowing beams ; and many a
time
I would have called you hither to this work,
But always, when I'd all but summoned you,
Some war or some rebellion would break
out.
Daire. Where 's Maine Morgor and old
Usnach's children,
And that high-headed even-walking Queen,
And many near as great that got their death
Because you hated peace ? I can remember
The people crying out when Deirdre passed
89
ON BAILE S STRAND.
And Maine Morgor had a cold gray eye.
Well, well, I'll throw this heel-tap on the
ground,
For it may be they are thirsty.
A King. Be silent, fool.
Another King. Be silent, Daire.
Concobar. Let him speak his mind.
I have no need to be afraid of ghosts,
For I have made but necessary wars.
I warred to strengthen Emain, or be-
cause
When wars are out they marry and beget
And have their generations like mankind
And there's no help for it; but I'm well
content
That they have ended and left the town so
great,
That its mere name shall be in times to
come
Like a great ale vat where the men of the
world
Shall drink no common ale but the hard
will,
90
ON BAILE S STRAND.
The unquenchable hope, the friendliness of
the sword.
[He takes thin boards on which plans
have been carved by those about him.
Give me the building plans, and have you
written
That we — Cuchullain is looking in his
shield ;
It may be the pale riders of the wind
Throw pictures on it, or that Mananan,
His father's friend and sometime fosterer,
Foreknower of all things, has cast a vision,
Out of the cold dark of the rich sea,
Foretelling Emain's greatness.
Ciichullain. No, great King,
I looked on this out of mere idleness,
Imagining a far-off country and one
That held it with a sword, although a
woman.
Concobar. A woman needs but laugh, or
a friend sigh,
And you're afar off sounding through the
world,
ON BAILE S STRAND.
While I plan Emain's greatness.
[ The sound of a trumpet without.
Open the doors !
I hear a herald's trumpet, and await,
It may be, the heavy fleeces of the sea
And golden and silver apples or ancient
crowns
Long hidden in the well at the World's E nd,
Or glittering garments of the salmon,
tributes
From the Great Plain, or the high people
of Sorcha,
Or the walled garden in the east of the
world.
[ The great door at the back is flung open ;
a Young Man, who is fully armed
and carries a shield with a woman's
head painted on it, stands upon the
threshold. Behind him are trum-
peters. He walks into the centre of
the hall, the triimpeting ceases.
What is your message ?
Young Man. I am of Aoife's army.
92
ON BAILE S STRAND.
First King. Queen Aoife and her army
have fallen upon us.
Second King. Out swords! Out swords!
Third King. They are about the house.
Fourth King. Rush out ! Rush out ! Be-
fore they have fired the thatch.
Young Man. Aoife is far away. I am
alone.
I have come alone in the midst of you
To weigh this sword against Cuchullain's
sword.
[ There is a murmur amongst the Kings.
Concobar. And are you noble? for if of
common seed
You cannot weigh your sword against his
sword
But in mixed battle.
Young Man. I am under bonds
To tell my name to no man, but it 's noble.
Concobar. But I would know your name
and not your bonds.
You cannot speak in the Assembly House
If you are not noble.
93
ON BAILE S STRAND.
A King. Answer the High King.
Young Man. [Drawing his sword.] I will
give no other proof than the hawk
gives
That it's no sparrow.
\_He is silent a moment, then speaks to all.
Yet look upon me, Kings;
I too am of that ancient seed and carry
The signs about this body and in these
bones.
Cuchullain. To have shown the hawk's
gray feather is enough,
And you speak highly too.
[CUCHULLAIN comes down from his great
chair. He remains standing on the
steps of the chair. The Young
Kings gather about him and begin
to arm him.
Give me that helmet!
I'd thought they had grown weary sending
champions.
That leathern coat will do. The High King
there
94
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Being old in wisdom can think of times to
come,
But the hawk 's sleepy till its well-beloved
Cries out amid the acorns, or it has seen
Its enemy like a speck upon the sun.
What 's Emain to the hawk when that clear
eye
Is burning nearer up in the high air?
That buckle should be tighter. Give me
your shield.
There is good level ground at Baile's Yew-
tree,
Some dozen yards from here, and it's but
truth
That I am sad to-day and this fight welcome.
\He looks hard at the Young Man, and
then steps down on the floor of the
Assembly House. He grasps the
Young Man by the shoulder.
Hither into the light.
[Turning- to one of the Young Kings.
The very tint
Of her that I was speaking of but now:
95
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Not a pin's difference. [To the Young Man.
You are from the North,
Where there are many that have that tint
of hair,
Red- brown, the light red-brown. Come
nearer, boy!
For I would have another look at you.
There 's more likeness, a pale, a stone pale
cheek.
What brought you, boy? Have you no fear
of death ?
Young Man. Whether I live or die is in
the Gods' hands.
Cuchullain. That is all words, all words,
a young man's talk;
I am their plough, their harrow, their very
strength,
For he that 's in the sun begot this body
Upon a mortal woman, and I have heard tell
It seemed as if he had outrun the moon,
That he must always follow through waste
heaven,
He loved so happily. He'll be but slow
96
ON BAILE S STRAND.
To break a tree that was so sweetly planted.
Let 's see that arm; I'll see it if I like.
That arm had a good father and a good
mother,
But it is not like this.
Young Man. You are mocking me.
You think I am not worthy to be fought,
But I'll not wrangle but with this talkative
knife.
Cuchullain. Put up your sword, I am not
mocking you.
I'd have you for my friend, but if it's not
Because you have a hot heart and a cold
eye
I cannot tell the reason. You've got her
fierceness,
And nobody is as fierce as those pale women.
[To the Young Kings.
We'll keep him here in Muirthemne awhile.
A Young King. You are the leader of
our pack and therefore
May cry what you will.
Cuchullain. You'll stop with us
in. 97 H
ON BAILE S STRAND.
And we will hunt the deer and the wild
bulls,
And, when we have grown weary, light our
fires
In sandy places where the wool-white foam
Is murmuring and breaking, and it may be
That long-haired women will come out of
the dunes
To dance in the yellow fire-light. You hang
your head,
Young man, as if it was not a good life;
And yet what's better than to hurl the spear,
And hear the long-remembering harp, and
dance ?
Friendship grows quicker in the murmuring
dark;
But I can see there's no more need for words
And that you'll be my friend now.
First Old King. Concobar,
Forbid their friendship, for it will get twisted
To a reproach against us.
Concobar. Until now
I'd never need to cry Cuchullain on
98
ON BAILE S STRAND.
And would not now.
First Old King. They'll say his man-
hood's quenched.
Cuchullain. I'll give you gifts, but I'll
have something too,
An arm-ring or the like, and if you will
We'll fight it out when you are older, boy.
An Old King. Aoife will make some
story out of this.
Cuchullain. Well, well, what matter, I'll
have that arm-ring, boy.
Yo2ing Man. There is no man I'd sooner
have my friend
Than you whose name has gone about the
world
As if it had been the wind, but Aoife 'd say
I had turned coward.
Cuchullain. I'll give you gifts
That Aoife '11 know and all her people know
To have been my gifts. Mananan, son of the
sea,
Gave me this heavy embroidered cloak.
Nine Queens
99
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Of the Land-under- Wave had woven it
, Out of the fleeces of the sea. O ! tell her
I was afraid, or tell her what you will.
No! tell her that I heard a raven croak
On the north side of the house and was
afraid.
An Old King. Some witch of the air has
troubled Cuchullain's mind.
Cuchullain. No witchcraft, his head is
like a woman's head
I had a fancy for.
Second Old King. A witch of the air
Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
They have gone to school to learn the trick
of it.
Cuchullain. But there 's no trick in this.
That arm-ring, boy.
Third Old King. He shall not go un-
fought, I'll fight with him.
Fourth Old King. No! I will fight with
him.
First Old King. I claim the fight,
For when we sent an army to her land—
100
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Second Old King. I claim the fight, for
one of Aoife's galleys
Stole my great cauldron and a herd of pigs.
Third Old King. No, no, I claim it, for
at Lammas' time
Cuchullain. Back ! Back ! Put up your
swords! Put up your swords!
There's none alive that shall accept a
challenge
I have refused. Laegaire, put up your
sword.
Young Man. No, let them come, let any
three together.
If they've a mind to, I'll try it out with
four.
Cuchullain. That's spoken as I'd spoken
it at your age,
But you are in my house. Whatever man
Would fight with you shall fight it out with
me.
They're dumb. They' re dumb. How many
of you would meet
\Drawing his sword.
101
ON BAILE S STRAND.
This mutterer, this old whistler, this sand-
piper,
This edge that 's grayer than the tide, this
mouse
That's gnawing at the timbers of the world,
This, this — Boy, I would meet them all in
arms
If I'd a son like you. He would avenge me
When I have withstood for the last time the
men
Whose fathers, brothers, sons, and friends
I have killed
Upholding Ullad; when the four provinces
Have gathered with the ravens over them.
But I'd need no avenger. You and I
Would scatter them like water from a
dish.
Young Man. We'll stand by one another
from this out.
Here is the ring.
Cuchullain. No, turn and turn about,
But my turn is first, because I am the
older.
102
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Cliodna embroidered these bird wings, but
Fand
Made all these little golden eyes with the
hairs
That she had stolen out of Aengus' beard,
And therefore none that has this cloak
about him
Is crossed in love. The heavy inlaid brooch
That Buan hammered has a merit too.
[He begins spreading the cloak out on
a bench, showing it to the Young
Man. Suddenly CONCOBAR beats
with his silver rod on a pillar
beside his chair. All turn towards
him.
Concobar. [In a loud voice '.] No more of
that, I will not have this friendship.
Cuchullain is my man and I forbid it;
He shall not go unfought for I myself
Cuchullain. [Seizing CONCOBAR.] You
shall not stir, High King, I'll hold
you there.
Concobar. Witchcraft has maddened you.
103
ON BAILE'S STRAND.
vT The Kings. [SkoutingJ] Yes, witchcraft,
V^_ witchcraft.
A King. You saw another's head upon
his shoulders
All of a sudden, a woman's head, Cuchullain.
Then raised your hand against the King of
Ullad.
Cuchullain. \Letting CONCOBAR go, and
looking wildly about him.'} Yes, yes,
all of a sudden, all of a sudden.
Daire. Why, there 's no witchcraft in it,
I myself
Have made a hundred of these sudden
friendships
And fought it out next day. But that was
folly,
For now that I am old I know it is best
To live in comfort.
A King. Pull the fool away!
Daire. I'll throw a heel-tap to the one
that dies.
Concobar. Some witch is floating in the
air above us.
104
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Cuchullain. Yes, witchcraft, witchcraft
and the power of witchcraft.
[ To the Young Man.
Why did you do it? was it Calatin's
daughters ?
Out. out, I say, for now it 's sword on sword.
Young Man. But, but, I did not
Cuchullain. Out, I say, out, out!
Sword upon sword.
[He goes towards tfie door at back,
followed by Young Man. He
turns on the threshold and cries
out, looking at the Young Man.
That hair my hands were drowned in!
[He goes out, followed by Young Man.
The other Kings begin to follow
them out.
A King. I saw him fight with Ferdiad.
Second King. We'll be too late.
They're such a long time getting through
the door.
Third King. Run quicker, quicker.
Daire. I was at the Smith's
ON BAILE S STRAND.
When he that was the boy Setanta then
[Sound of fighting outside.
Third King. He will have killed him.
They have begun the fight!
[ They all go out, leaving the house silent
and empty. There is a pause during
which one hears the clashing of the
swords. BARACH #?^FiNTAiNft?;;z<?
in from side door. BARACH is drag-
ging FINTAIN.
Barach. You have eaten it, you have
eaten it, you have left me nothing but the
bones.
Fintain. O, that I should have to endure
such a plague. O, I ache all over. O, I am
pulled in pieces. This is the way you pay
me for all the good I have done you!
Barach. You have eaten it, you have told
me lies about a wild dog. Nobody has seen
a wild dog about the place this twelve month.
Lie there till the Kings come. O, I will tell
Concobar and Cuchullain and all the Kings
about you !
1 06
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Fintain. What would have happened to
you but for me, and you without your wits?
If I did not take care of you what would
you do for food and warmth?
Barach. You take care of me ? You stay
safe and send me into every kind of danger.
You sent me down the cliff for gull's eggs,
while you warmed your blind eyes in the
sun. And then you ate all that were good
for food. You left me the eggs that were
neither egg nor bird. [ The blind man tries
to rise. BARACH makes him lie down again.}
Keep quiet now till I shut the door. There
is some noise outside. There are swords
crossing; a high vexing noise so that I can't
be listening to myself. \He goes to the big
door at the back and shuts it^\ Why can't
they be quiet, why can't they be quiet! Ah,
you would get away, would you ? \He
follows the blind man who has been crawling
along the wall and makes him lie down close
to the KING'S chairJ] Lie there, lie there.
No, you won't get away. Lie there till the
107
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Kings come, I'll tell them all about you. I
shall tell it all. How you sit warming your-
self, when you have made me light a fire of
sticks, while I sit blowing it with my mouth.
Do you not always make me take the windy
side of the bush when it blows and the rainy
side when it rains ?
Fintain. O good fool, listen to me. Think
of the care I have taken of you. I have
brought you to many a warm hearth, where
there was a good welcome for you, but
you would not stay there, you were always
wandering about.
Barach. The last time you brought me
in, it was not I who wandered away, but
you that got put out because you took the
crubeen out of the pot, when you thought
nobody was looking. Keep quiet now, keep
quiet till I shut the door. Here is Cuchul-
lain, now you will be beaten. I am going to
tell him everything.
Cuchullain. \Comes in and says to the
fool.~\ Give me that horn.
108
ON BAILE S STRAND.
\The fool gives him a horn which
CUCHULLAIN fills with ale and
drinks.
Fintain. Do not listen to him, listen to
me.
Cuchullain. What are you wrangling
over?
Barach. He is fat and good for nothing.
He has left me the bones and the feathers.
Cuchullain. What feathers?
Barach. I left him turning a fowl at the
fire. He ate it all. He left me nothing but
the bones and feathers.
Fintain. Do not believe him. You do
not know how vain this fool is. I gave him
the feathers, because I thought he would
like nothing so well.
[BARACH is sitting on a bench playing
with a heap of feather s> which he
has taken out of the breast of his
coat.
Barach. [Singing.'] When you were an
acorn on the tree top
109
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Fintain. Where would he be but for me ?
I must be always thinking, thinking to get
food for the two of us, and when we've
got it, if the moon's at the full or the tide
on the turn, he'll leave the rabbit in its
snare till it is full of maggots, or let the
trout slip through his hands back into the
water.
Barach. [Singing.~\ When you were an
acorn on the tree top,
Then was I an eagle cock;
Now that you are a withered old block,
Still am I an eagle cock !
Fintain. Listen to him now! That's the
sort of talk I have to put up with, day out
day in.
\The fool is putting the feathers into
his hair. CUCHULLAIN takes a
handful of feathers out of the heap
and out of the fool's hair, and
begins to wipe the blood from his
sword with them.
Barach. He has taken my feathers to
no
ON BAILE S STRAND.
wipe his sword. It is blood that he is wiping
from his sword !
Fintain. Whose blood? Whose blood?
Cuchullain. That young champion's.
Fintain. He that came out of Aoife's
country ?
Cuchullain. The Kings are standing
round his body.
Fintain. Did he fight long?
Cuchullain. He thought to have saved
himself with witchcraft.
Barach. That blind man there said he
would kill you. He came from Aoife's
country to kill you. That blind man said
they had taught him every kind of weapon
that he might do it. But I always knew
that you would kill him.
Cuchullain. [To the blind man.~\ You
knew him, then?
Fintain. I saw him when I had my eyes,
in Aoife's country.
Cuchullain. You were in Aoife's coun-
try?
in
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Fintain. I knew him and his mother
there.
Cuchullain. He was about to speak of
her when he died.
Fintain. He was a Queen's son.
Cuchullain. What Queen, what Queen?
\He seizes the blind manJ\ Was it Scathach ?
There were many Queens. All the rulers
were Queens.
Fintain. No, not Scathach.
Cuchullain. It was Uathach,then. Speak,
speak !
Fintain. I cannot speak, you are clutch-
ing me too tightly. [CUCHULLAIN lets him
go^\ I cannot remember who it was. I am
not certain. It was some Queen.
Barach. He said a while ago that the
young man was Aoife's son.
Cuchullain. She ? No, no, she had no
son when I was there.
Barach. That blind man there said that
she owned him for her son.
Cuchullain. I had rather he had been
112
ON BAILE S STRAND.
some other woman's son. What father had
he ? A soldier out of Alba ? She was an
amorous woman, a proud, pale amorous
woman.
Fintain. None knew whose son he
was.
Cuchullain. None knew? Did you know,
old listener at doors ?
Fintain. No, no, I knew nothing.
Barach. He said a while ago that he
heard Aoife boast that she'd never but the
one lover, and he the only man that had
overcome her in battle. [A pause.
Fintain. Somebody is trembling. Why
are you trembling, fool ? the bench is shak-
ing, why are you trembling? Is Cuchullain
going to hurt us? Itwasnot I who told
you, Cuchiillain.
Barach. It is Cuchullain who is trem-
bling. He is shaking the bench with his
knees.
Cuchullain. He was my son, and I have
killed my son. [A pause.
m. 113 I
ON BAILE S STRAND.
'Twas they that did it, the pale windy
people,
Where, where, where? My sword against
the thunder.
But no, for they have always been my
friends;
And though they love to blow a smoking
coal
Till it 's all flame, the wars they blow aflame
Are full of glory, and heart uplifting pride,
And not like this ; the wars they love
awaken
Old fingers and the sleepy strings of harps.
Who did it then? Are you afraid; speak out,
For I have put you under my protection
And will reward you well. Dubthach the
Chafer.
He had an old grudge. No, for he is with
Maeve.
Laegaire did it. Why do you not speak?
What is this house? \A pause.~\ Now I
remember all.
Fintain. He will kill us. O, I am afraid!
114
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Cuchullain. \Who is before CONCOBAR'S
chair. ~\ 'Twas you who did it, you
who sat up there
With that old branch of silver, like a mag-
pie
Nursing a stolen spoon. .Magpie, magpie,
A maggot that is eating up the earth !
[Begins hacking at the chair with his
sword.
No, but a magpie, for he's flown away.
Where did he fly to?
Fintain. He is outside the door.
Cuchullain. Outside the door?
Fintain. He is under Baile's yew-tree.
Cuchullain. Concobar, Concobar, the j
sword into your heart.
[He goes out. A pause. The fool goes
to the great door at back and looks
out after him.
Barach. He is going up to King Concc
bar ; they are all under the tree. No, no,
he is standing still. There is a great wave
going to break and he is looking at it. Ah!
ON BAILE S STRAND.
now he is running down to the sea, but he
is holding up his sword as if he were going
into a fight. \_A pause.] Well struck, well
struck !
Fintain. What is he doing now ?
Barach. Oh ! he is fighting the waves.
Fintain. He sees King Concobar's crown
on every one of them.
Barach. There, he has struck at a big
one. He has struck the crown off it, he has
made the foam fly. There again another big
one. \Shouting without.
Fintain. Where are the Kings ? What
are the Kings doing?
Barach. They are shouting and running
down to the shore, and the people are
running out of the houses, they are all
running.
Fintain. You say they are running out of
the houses, there will be nobody left in the
houses. Listen, fool.
Barach. There, he is down ! He is up
again! He is going out into the deep water.
116
ON BAILE S STRAND.
Fintain. Come here, fool; come here, I
say.
Barach. [Coming towards him but look-
ing backward towards the doorJ] What is it?
Fintain. There will be nobody in the
houses. Come this way, come quickly; the
ovens will be full ; we will put our hands
into the ovens. [ They go out.
117
CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
PR Yeats, William Butler
5904 The king's threshold
K4
1904
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